Couplets for construction workers
LIKE 1,000 of her fellow workers at a construction project on the North Bund, Jin Xiaofeng, a 37-year-old Henan native, is staying in Shanghai for Spring Festival, the most important holiday for Chinese people who celebrate at family reunions.
Jin, who lives with her husband, daughter and her mother-in-law in Shanghai, won’t be reunited with her parents this time, but for her, it’s not something that’s irreplaceable.
Yesterday, she and her colleagues were visited on the construction site by a group of calligraphers and photographers organized by the Youth League Shanghai, who wrote Spring Festival couplets for them and took portraits of them to greet their loved ones with.
“May good luck bring you four seasons of happiness and may the new spring bring you all fortune in the world,” was the couplet Jin asked for, words typically used in Chinese New Year’s blessings.
Although she is hundreds of kilometers away from her parents, she said, she feels there is no distance between them.
“I have been making video calls with my parents every day now before the festival, and they tell me and show me what they have bought for the holiday and who has come to visit them,” she said.
Jin, who works in handling construction costs, has just moved into a bigger apartment and said she is upbeat about the new year.
“We’re hardworking, and our daughter is happy studying in school,” she said. “Everything is moving in the right direction and our life will surely become better and better.”
Including Jin and her colleagues, about 29,000 people from out of town who are staying in Shanghai for the holiday, including construction workers, deliverymen, hospital workers, street cleaners, police officers and firefighters, will receive similar holiday gifts from the Youth League Shanghai and its partners through the end of the seven-day holiday.
The workers will also receive snack packages, hand cream, pandemic prevention kits and physical check coupons, which were contributed by local companies.
“Through engaging volunteers from other walks of life to take part in our action, we hope these people can also have a different Spring Festival by giving love to others,” said Chu Xinyu, vice director of the grassroots work department of the Youth League Shanghai.
Some photographers from Musee Foto took part yesterday. They built a makeshift photo studio at a corner of the construction site and shot portraits of smiling workers wearing red scarves and holding a red paper with the Chinese character “fortune” on it.
Benjamin Schmachtenberg, a German national who is the founder of the portrait studio, said his company is taking part in a good cause.
“The workers have been working hard for the city, and it’s our turn to reward them for their contribution,” he said. “We’re trying to help them let their families back in their hometowns know they’re happy in Shanghai.”
Li Huaicui from Hunan Province, a manager with Shanghai Construction Group, which is the general contractor of the construction project, said the company will also do its part to help workers feel at home during the Spring Festival.
It is organizing tug-of-war games and a karaoke competition on Chinese New Year’s Eve and treating the workers to dumplings, an indispensable New Year treat for Chinese people, he said.
“Our canteen will offer free food for workers through the Lantern Festival, and the food will be festive,” Li added.